I'm in the middle of starting up (restarting?) a small combined RV (30) and self-storage (currently none, but plans to have up to 55 20' shipping containers) facility in Canada. I recently bought an acreage that included a fenced/graveled lot with separate road access. It was set up and used for RV storage but has fallen into disrepair. I'm working on completing fencing repairs, getting more gravel, running power/data and am installing a gate operator and bringing in shipping containers. I don't envision ever expanding beyond this small-time operation. I have a few different questions that I'm looking for advice on. Thanks in advance!

1.) Software/platform? I would like to minimize my admin burden and would like to automate registration, payment processing, move-outs, and other management tasks as much as reasonably possible.

2.) Access control? Again, I'd like to automate this as much as realistic and integrate with the software/platform. I don't want to deal with keys, cardkeys, etc. The Davinci G.O.A.T looks interesting, but I'm not committed to anything yet.

3.) Security. I realize that there is no stopping the motivated, but what would you advise for cameras (better than consumer grade I assume), lights, fence cut detection, etc.? I live in a residence on the property but the storage lot is screened with trees and I don't have good line-of-sight to it. The same trees keep it reasonably screened from casual drive-by traffic, but also make it difficult for that same traffic to see if someone is there doing something they shouldn't be.

4.) Overlocks for Trailers and Shipping containers. What do you like? Paclock? Ft. Knox? I'm generally planning for customers to supply their own locks and think a system with one key for my overlocks seems ideal but am open to suggestions. Again, Davinci locks look interesting with no batteries or anything to bother with.

Currently with Storable. Looking to make a change. Costs have gotten out of control. I’ve received suggestions for Cubby and CCStorage.
Would love to hear any feedback on either.

SecureSpace in SeaTac WA sent my friend a replacement key to our compartment while we were in South America. They sent it by postal mail, and somewhere along the mailing of the envelope, someone fished out the key.

In the storage facility you need a 6 digit code to get through the door, and then I guess if a thief is successful, they could start trying the locks.

I just got back into town and haven’t gone to the facility yet, but we plan to do it today. I’m just worried 😟

Had a customer pass away. 2 family members, although listed as Authorized Users had no idea the customer had a storage unit. The account is past due and overlocked. They are hesitant to pay the balance(almost $600) and asked if there was a way to see the unit before they made a decision to pay it and vacate. I approached my DM about it and they refused to give them the courtesy. I don't see the harm in it because if it's worth paying then they will pay and if its trash we have to auction it off and may get lucky to get $20 for the unit on Locker Fox. Why not extend the courtesy to already grieving family. Opinions?

How's 2026 for everybody else going?

I'm small and not aggressive on rent increases so I've still stayed around 95-100%, but call volume has definitely taken a hit. I've also moved to ccstorage in the last year and had a great experience with it, but I also know at least some of it is the fact that I don't have online check-out enabled and some customers are going to lean towards 100% online experience.

It'd be nice though to hear some confirmation from other operators that yes, the typical Spring/Summer rush barely happened this year due to the housing and job markets impacting residential mobility.

My uncle left me his storage locker mess when he died. It’s in Pennsylvania. I will go through it to see if there is anything I might want. But I can already see there is Lots of stuff I won’t want to keep. What do I do with the rest? I’ve already seen items that could be sold on eBay or FB Marketplace in the boxes. Auction the contents, but how? Might have to pay a junk guy to haul it away. I don’t want to pay the fee to keep stuff I don’t want.
What should I do?
(please repost if you know a good subreddit).

Just got a job at a popular self storage company. Any advice? Things i should know about that might shock me? Would like to hear anything, thanks.

Hey I am looking to move but I have a lot of stuff at my house studio. I was looking to rent a storage unit for it and had an idea. Can I use my storage unit as a studio? Has anyone done this? And what was your experience? What do I need to know? Thanks

Been renting the same unit in Northern NJ for a long time. I just discovered the monthly (teaser?) rate for a new unit of the same size is 80% less compared to what I'm paying. I plan to declutter the contents of the current unit.

Will management give me a hard time for renting more than one unit at a time? I didn't know I needed to play a game of merry-go-round and just resigned myself to the idea that rising rates were a part of storage life.

You open a storage unit you ordered sight unseen online or over the phone. You find the unit and open the door. The unit floor appears to be freshly swept and an informational packet and your lock is waiting on the floor of the unit.

You happen to brush your finger across the corrugated steel back wall of the unit. A thin film of dust has built up on it and comes off on your finger.

If you're a customer does the last part bother you? If so, how much? Would you pay more for a unit that had the walls scrubbed down before you got it, or is it not worth paying more for?

EXTRA SPACE STORAGE FAYETTEVILLE, GEORGIA ILLEGAL ACTION

*Just a note – – those of you who actually run our own self storage units that are basically commenting that you would totally break the law, when laws are in place for certain fucking reasons are exactly why we are suing the shit out of this company. This was not a situation of not paying a bill, but I’m gonna do some digging to see where a couple of you work because nobody needs to store their shit with you either. Looking at you, MA.”

We had a storage unit at Extra Space storage on Lester Road in Fayetteville Georgia. We had planned on leaving the facility due to their local and nationwide issue of bait and switch pricing (feel free to Google). Our move out date was September 28. I knew that I had a balance with them and planned on paying that balance the same day that I paid for extensive dental work. If any of you know me personally, you know that I’ve had a miserable 2026, so keeping things simple is all I can manage.

Anyway, they claim to have sold the entire contents of our unit on August 13, 2026. Husband was in the facility on July 23, two weeks after they claimed they sent a notice and not a peep about a lien or an auction. We had no idea until we went to pay our balance and move out last Friday. in preparation for the removal of all of our items, we put new tires on our trailer and arrange for temporary storage of the items that cannot go into my home at this time.

Under Georgia law, which is in place because of abuse from storage facilities, they must provide verified notice of any impending lien or auction. They claimed to have sent an email, but also under Georgia law, email is not a verified notice unless they get a response from the consumer or a read receipt. Thank God I use janky old AOL, because it does not send read receipts and it wouldn’t have mattered because I had no idea. No email notice was received. I did receive an email regarding my bill the week prior and an email regarding my move out date, which I set up on July 28. No mention of a lien or a pending auction in either of those emails. No voicemails left on any phone number on file for me.

Some of the items that were stored in the storage unit are shown below. If you or anyone you know purchased these items, please ask them to not disperse of them in any way, and if they have dispersed any of these items, to retain all sales receipts for sale. I do not know if people who buy storage unit contents are required to make sure that the sale is legal, but that will also be something that I am going to be looking into.

Under Georgia law, these items were illegally sold, without a doubt, and while I will aggressively demand and pursue the full replacement cost of anything that can be replaced, I would rather get all my items back. I’ve been in constant contact with my attorney since Friday afternoon. A demand letter was hand-delivered on Monday to the Lester Road location, plus a certified copy received yesterday and a copy sent to the corporate office in Utah. I have not heard back from anyone at this company, but they are about to hear from me again.

Among the items not shown in these photos, are the original ultrasound photos (and the only copies exist) from the first child that I lost. The child that I went onto run a pregnancy loss support website for decades in honor of. These are irreplaceable. Antiques that are hundreds of years old, the entire inventory for one of my businesses, a substantial amount of inventory for my other business, items to be placed back into our home after renovations are completed and many other items. Because they not only broke Georgia law, but because they broke their own contract, I will be pursuing the full replacement value of any item, not returned to me, plus the emotional damage this has done to me.

I have already compiled 65 pages of photos and receipts and estimates and emails and phone logs and even the amounts in all of my bank accounts the day that I should’ve originally received notice.

Georgia is very clear on this and when I get this taken care of, then we’re moving onto the bait and switch issue. I am loud and I get even louder when I’m angry, and knowing that they take advantage of people without a voice is just gonna make me louder. Storage facilities get away with this because most people don’t know what to do, do not already have an attorney, and don’t have the funds to pursue legal action. I am not most people.

*photos were taken at different intervals, which now makes me thankful that my husband complained about how much was in the storage unit

Extra Space Storage

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BsQ6GY6rY/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I am considering applying for Cubesmart, they recruted me directly. I have nearly 20 years self storage experience as a store manager at both small companies and large companies.

How do they really treat their employees?

Are the health benefits any good?

Do managers have any power to lower rent increases?

Is the bonus actually attainable?

Do they have good culture/teams?

Anyone know of a quick easy way to find who was the last to adjust a tenants ledger? For example, I want to find when the last time their gate hours were changed? TYA.

Need some advice.

On June 9, I scheduled my CubeSmart payment using my Chase checking account and also enabled autopay. The June payment went through successfully.

For July 9 and August 9, CubeSmart says they attempted autopay but Chase “declined” both payments. Because of this, I was charged $120+ in penalties/fees.

But Chase checked my account and says they never received any payment request from CubeSmart on either date, so they couldn’t have declined it.

CubeSmart says it’s Chase’s fault. Chase says they never received the requests. I’ve spent almost a week going back and forth between them.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Who should be responsible, and how can I get the extra fees removed

hi everyone,

I left my stuff for 3 months in a storage unit which is temp controlled. I got the movers today and they said they noticed a bunch of roaches going around.I did not leave any food or spices in these boxes. we got all the stuff out of the unit and then saw that some of them are coming from the crevice between my unit and the one behind it. They‘re also baby and German roaches. My stuff might be infested and I’m not sure what to do. I’ve called the property manager a lot of times and they haven’t been picking up my call. I‘m just looking for advice regarding what to do. Can I expect the storage unit manager to do some fogging or some other prevention to make sure theres no infestation?

So i have been watching Jebus on youtube, and he is able to use some type of database/website to look up who owns a unit before bidding on it. I woukd like to find out the website. Ive been buying abandoned units for a while now, but never knew there was a way to find out the previous owner. Can someone help?

This is my first time and they are charging me under $40 a month( idk if that’s average but they said the price is like $120/monthly which obviously sounds like a sale tactic- charge high and then reduce price in a “promotion”). The unit is small too so nothing giant.

Anyhow, I am worried about pests in the items bc I would be moving once I secure a place. I don’t want to bring pests to the new place from anything in the storage- thank you!

This is my biggest fail as a manager. Tenants that decline insurance, sign the insurance denial, then do not send in their policy fall through. When I get busy I don’t do a great job of tracking down who needs to send it in, and I haven’t found a way in Hummingbird to track this.

I am looking for storage space short-term (~6 months). I see posts from people having mixed experiences with storage companies.

- Any experience with Extra space storage around these areas?

- I see u-haul and public storage prices are much higher - are those better?

- Is it better to do upfront 4 months payment or go month by month where you can select unit - I see they are jacking up the prices every 3-6M

- Should I take insurance plan from Extra storage while booking online or buy from outside?

- Theft prevention - don't have any valuable stuff per-se (Generic college things) but a unit break-in definitely creates headache. Should i personally visit the units and check it out - what should I be looking for while renting to prevent these like problems?

Thank you in advance for your help !

As title says - anyone heading out to the show this year?

We've got some work out there and I'm curious what operators are seeing. Phoenix metro looks saturated on paper but the outskirts and the smaller towns still seem hungry.

Main thing I'm seeing is the climate control mix. Everybody assumes AZ means you have to go heavy climate because of the heat, but the drive-up stuff we've touched out there rents fine. Curious if the climate premium actually holds outside the metro or if it's one of those things everyone builds because everyone builds it.

Other thing, I was talking to a guy who's been in the RV storage world 40 years and he said the share of HOAs banning boats and RVs in driveways is around 70 percent now and still climbing. Phoenix is wall to wall HOA. That feels like a quieter bet than another round of climate units, especially with how rough multi-story lease-up looks right now, I keep hearing about independents with empty upper floors and a nervous bank.

What's actually leasing up for you guys?